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June 7, 2008

Manny vs Youkilis

A Red Sox source told Enrique Rojas of ESPNdeportes that the dugout altercation between Manny Ramirez and Kevin Youkilis was sparked by Yook's temper after not getting hits.

"It all happened because Manny complained about Youkilis' habit of throwing bats, helmets and other objects in the dugout when he has a bad at-bat, something that has become a constant practice.

"Other players have told Youkilis in the past about the situation, which makes him look selfish and that he is more worried about each at-bat than about the team. If Boston is winning easily, there's no reason to throw objects all over the dugout because of a bad at-bat.

"There was a meeting where the team let Youkilis know that many of his teammates were tired of his explosive reactions for each bad plate appearance. It became very bothersome ... more so when the team is winning and it's in first place. There's not much room for individualistic attitudes."

According to three sources, Manny had raised objections to Youkilis throwing equipment around in the dugout after flying deep to center in the fourth inning, and advised him to "cut that [expletive] out". Youkilis apparently didn't take kindly to the remark, said something, and Manny swiped at him.

Yook's Paul O'Neill impersonations have always grated on me. It's an act that I don't remember seeing during his first or second season. But now that he has become more established in the league, it's commonplace for him to whine about even obvious strikes and to get overly annoyed because he makes outs -- as if he's somehow different from every other baseball player who has ever lived.

There isn't much footage of the altercation -- though NESN showed a blurry clip on Friday night of Manny slapping Yook with the back of his hand. Was Manny dodging batting helmets and bats and equipment in the dugout? Or was he simply sick of Yook's dramatics?

No one is saying much of anything. And before Friday's game, both Ramirez and Youkilis were tight-lipped.

Manny:

It's in the past. It's a new day. ... [W]hat happened is nobody's business.

11 comments:

I hope things turn out for the best, and Youkilis changes his attitude. It has been pretty detrimental to himself and now more obviously, the team.

It seems like Youk's negativeness has been hurting him in the box. Just take a look at his splits between the first and second half of the past two years. His OBP is at least 50 points lower in the second half. To me, that points to mental trouble over physical (although it is harder to think when you're exhausted).

It was good shtick at first when youk would get all mad because we all thought he was such a great hitter with an incredible eye. Now he is just a good hitter with an annoying habit. We get it youk you are a good hitter and we wont turn on you for a strike out here and there. I do stand behind his passion though. Maybe that's why lugo has been spotted throwing a helmet or a bat recently. He is trying to get some of that youk stain on his jersey.

A lot of so-called repoprters owe Manny an apology. Over at MLBXM, for example, Rob Dibble and Kevin "Dan Duquette was out to get me" Kennedy spun the story that Manny was the bad guy, coming late out of the dugout to help a team mate being beaten up by the other team, and Youk was the courageous "enforcer" for the Sox, having the guts to "call him out." "Manny being Manny wears on everyone after a while," intones KK. So it turns out that it was MANNY speaking for the team, and Youk who was being selfish.

And this is how bias works. Manny's the loose cannon,according to the media line, so everyone interprets the facts in that light.

No one is wrong here Yook isn't a better man and Manny is no better than Yook.The incident should have never happenend.We need both of them to win and if that means ..Yook wants to throw helmets and cuss out umpires and Manny wants to stare down HR's and loaf around every now and then then so be it...They both have flaws and if no one has ever called out Manny , he has no right to call out Yook.

They both have flaws and if no one has ever called out Manny , he has no right to call out Yook.

First, we have no idea if there have been any team meetings about anything Manny has done.

Second, it's not just Manny. The report says many teammates have told Youkilis to cut the shit -- it was discussed at a team meeting and it sounds like the whole point of the meeting was Yook's antics -- and he has not.

It will be interesting to see if Yook now stops (or cuts down) acting like a 11 year old.

What Jack Marshall said. Out of frustration last night, I flipped briefly to the Yanks game, only to catch a similar exchange between Michael Kaye and Paul O'Neil (of all people). O'Neil went on to elaborate at length how not showing solidarity by immediately joining these brawls could really ruin team chemistry. Kaye, of course, predicted the immediate ruin of the Sox. Neither mentioned that Manny had 5 ribbies in the game. Had either done any homework (the story was already online), they could have had a great discussion with O'Neil about the effect of temper tantrums on team-mates. Oh well, fiction sells better, I guess.

9casey: the "they both have flaws" argument leaves me cold. It's irresponsible and a cop-out. Any team, nation, group, company or tree house has to establish a culture---what is or is not considered acceptible, beneficial, right and wrong---and EVERY member has a shared obligation to define and enforce that culture. Manny was doing his job to call out Youk, just as Schilling was doing his job two years ago when he called out Manny for declining to help out when he had a scheduled off-day and the Sox were short outfielders. You don't have to be "perfect" to object to conduct that's objectionable, for Christ's sakes. That's an all-too-popular excuse for "anything goes," and "anything goes" doesn't work when there are shared tasks to accomplish, like winning games.It makes no difference at all whether Manny himself was criticized in the past, though I'm 100% certain he has been. ("You critized me so now I can critize you!" is playground logic.) If it was time for the team to police Youk, Manny had as much of a right as anyone,and what he did was in the best interests of the team.

Jack, I am sorry my argument left you cold.....My point is and always will be . I could careless if any of these ballplayers want to call each other out, just pick the right place , cameras are everywhere here, and Yook who was a crowd favorite is getting killed here and sosh and thats not right.

And If Manny had to "police" Yook his timing and place sucked.

I watched that Yankee game last night and I think that was Cone and not O'neil.....